When to book bridal makeup, and what happens at the trial

Book bridal makeup as soon as your date and venue are fixed, and no later than the point where you can still hold a trial at least 21 days before the wedding. For most weddings that means booking two to three months ahead. The trial is where the look is decided; the morning itself is where it is repeated. This page covers the booking windows, what the trial is and how to prepare for it, and how long everything takes on the day. The month-by-month beauty plan, from skin to henna to nails, is in our bridal beauty timeline.

When to book a bridal makeup artist

The short answer: early. An artist can be in one place on a Friday evening, and the dates around Eid, the winter season and the school holidays fill first. If you have seen an artist's work and want her, book her before you book almost anything else about your look.

There is a practical limit too. Our online calendar opens a fixed number of days ahead; for a wedding further away than that, message the bridal concierge and she will hold the date by hand. Either way, a deposit holds the date and nothing is charged until your team is confirmed.

Book hair and makeup together if you want them from the same team. Booking them separately, from two providers, means two arrival times, two kits and two people who have never planned a morning with each other.

When to book the trial

Hold the trial at least 21 days before the wedding. Earlier is better, for two reasons: if you change your mind about the look there is time to try again, and if the trial reveals a reaction to a product there is time for your skin to recover and for the artist to substitute.

Do not hold the trial before you know your dress and, if you are wearing one, your veil. The neckline and the fabric change the balance of the face and the height of the hair.

What is a bridal trial?

A bridal trial is a complete run-through of your wedding-day hair and makeup, at home, weeks before the wedding. It is not a consultation and not a sketch: your artist does the whole face and the whole hairstyle, as she will on the day, and then the two of you look at it in daylight and under the room's lamps.

At the end she photographs the result from the front and both sides and writes down every product, shade and step. Those notes and photographs are what she brings on the morning, so the wedding-day look is the one you approved, not a memory of it. The glossary entry on the bridal trial has the short version.

With us the trial covers hair and makeup together and is booked as its own service, with the same artist where her calendar allows.

What to do before the bridal makeup trial

1. Collect pictures. Three or four looks you like, on faces near your own colouring if you can find them, and one you dislike.
2. Wear the colour of your dress, with a similar neckline, and bring the veil or headpiece and the earrings.
3. Come with clean, moisturised skin and no makeup. Hair washed and dry, with no product. Our guide to preparing your skin for a makeup artist has the full list.
4. Do it at the time of day you will be photographed, or as close as your diary allows.
5. Plan to keep the look on for the rest of the day. How it wears after four or five hours tells you more than how it looks at the end of the chair.
6. Say what you think. A trial exists so you can ask for changes. "A little less on the eyes" is exactly the sentence she wants to hear now, not on the morning.

Take your own photographs as well, by a window and under lamps, and look at them the next day with fresh eyes.

How long does bridal makeup take?

With us, bridal makeup takes about two hours and bridal hair about an hour and a half. The trial, which covers both, takes about two and a half hours. These are the times we plan with; a particularly long hairstyle or a very full lash can add to them, and your artist will say so at the trial.

Mothers, sisters and bridesmaids each add their own services and their own time. That is why the wedding morning is planned backwards from the moment you must be ready: the Bridal Studio takes that time, the people in your party and their services, and works out how many therapists are needed and when they should ring the bell. The bride is last in the chair, so her face and hair are freshest for the photographs, and she is done with a margin before she must leave.

How long does bridal makeup last?

A properly prepared and set face holds through a full day and into the evening. What fades first is the lip, and sometimes powder over the nose after a warm afternoon. Ask your artist for the name of the lipstick shade she used so you can keep it in your bag, and blot rather than powder if you get shiny. Everything else should still be in place when the last photograph is taken.

What you can book

Hamd Beauty offers bridal makeup, bridal hair and the bridal trial at home in Dubai, by women artists. The trial is its own service, hair and makeup together, with notes and photographs kept for the day. Plan the whole morning in the Bridal Studio, or talk to the bridal concierge if your wedding is further ahead than the calendar shows.